


World becomes ours

by DivineBeast



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alpha Daryl Dixon, Alpha Merle Dixon, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Biting, Bottom Rick, Dixon cuddles, Don't expect it to be good, Even Merle engages in the cuddles, Lori gets traumatized though so look forward to that, M/M, Mating, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Rick Grimes, Rutting, Season 1 Daryl like mmm, Shane doesn't know what to think, Top Daryl Dixon, True Mates, Was started for smut practice, Wolf Shifters, kinda public sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 21:29:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10671144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DivineBeast/pseuds/DivineBeast
Summary: Rick wakes when he's taken from the hospital and bit by a fellow wolf shifter. The man's an alpha, and he recognizes him from one of his many drug raids he's conducted in the past. When they get to camp, he's immediately drawn to the alpha's brother.





	World becomes ours

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Daryl/Rick. This fic was originally supposed to just be smut practice, but a lot more got added onto it on accident. :P As such, it’s not the best of fics but I think it passes at least as a one shot. This is only the second smut I’ve ever written. It was also an excuse to write cuddle practice. I’m not sorry.
> 
> Mostly I write one shots on the side of writing the huge one I’m doing, serving as a refresher before I can continue writing the big one. (Which is also Rick/Daryl ABO and the first chapter won’t be posted until I’ve finished writing the whole thing.)
> 
> Also, my friend Ezi is my beta, because he’s awesome like that, as well as some grammar/wording help from my blindy-butt friend Ketti when I read it aloud to her. :P

 

The hospital was recently abandoned, making it the perfect place to scrounge for supplies. If he was lucky, he could find some weapons from fallen soldiers too. They had been idiots to go into the hospital in groups in the first place, Merle thought. Too many small hallways and easily pushed open doors. 

 

Besides, in his wolf form, it was easy to get away from any threats or tear them apart without worrying about getting bit. He was too fast for the undead fuckers, and he wasn’t even sure a wolf shifter could turn. He or his brother hadn’t seen it yet, there was far too little of them on the earth as it was. 

 

The duffle bag for supplies dangled from his sharp-toothed mouth. When he came across a walker, he tore its head up with his claws and moved on quickly, hoping to find at least some medicine if he couldn’t find weapons. 

 

He’d gone up a few floors and gathered a few things here and there when he noticed a particular door with a gurney in front of it. Was it to keep something in? Or out? 

 

Too curious for his own damn good, Merle nosed the gurney out of the way and clawed at the door, listening to see if something would bang against it. Silence reigned. 

 

Since it was pretty impossible for him to open the door in this form, he reluctantly went into his human one and turned the knob slowly. He let the door swing open and had a hand on his gun, waiting for something to jump out at him. 

 

First thing his eyes landed on was the body on the bed. He must have just died, because there was no decay. It was hard to tell he was even dead through the stench in the whole of the hospital. 

 

He was about to leave when his sensitive nose picked up a familiar smell. He couldn’t recall where he’d scented it before… He moved in closer to get a better sense of it, when he saw movement. The man’s chest had risen slightly. So he was alive, then. Some miracle coma patient? He’d die of starvation soon. 

 

The familiar scent prickled his nose again though. He had to stick his face directly against the guy’s neck to get the pure smell over the stink of death. 

 

Merle reared back, surprised by the intensity of the smell, until the obvious reason clicked. This man was one of  _ them _ , like he and his brother. Omega, too. Where had he smelled…?

 

_ Grimes!  _ He remembered, his mind thrown back to a few years ago when a curly haired omega officer busted him at one of his drug parties. Officer Grimes had been the one that tried to convince him to go to rehab, citing that Merle  _ obviously _ wasn’t as bad as he tried to be if he supposedly loved his brother so much. Grimes had never met Merle’s brother, but he seemed so sure of himself. It had severely pissed Merle off at the time and he threw every dirty word he knew at the man. 

 

This was the man that made him think about rehab. He didn’t have the money for that shit, but he did stop doing drugs all on his own. Got his brother to hold him down and strap him when going through withdrawls. Daryl never knew that Merle hadn’t come to his decision all on his own. Daryl had tried for a few years to convince him to stop, but sometimes people had to hear it from someone they didn’t know.

 

He’d only seen the man one more time after that. The omega had had a proud smile, one that Merle took as pretty smug back then. The officer had somehow realized that Merle had stopped his drug habit.

 

Being grateful was not often a feeling that Merle felt. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever feeling that way before, except maybe when it was only his mother that burned in that fire and not his baby brother. He’d been grateful, then. 

 

Merle remembered thinking about offering the man to be his pack. To meet his brother. But then he’d seen the guy’s human wife come around the corner of that aisle, with his young unpresented son, and saw that the man didn’t deserve to have to deal with Dixons the rest of his life. 

 

Speaking of the wife and son, though… he’d almost forgotten that they were Grimes’ family, since they’d come riding in with the other human guy, Shane, and he could hear them screwing every night. He’d assumed that Grimes had died and left the family alone, though he couldn’t resist a good taunt at Queenie. She didn’t recognize him from the store and had no clue that he had known her  _ husband _ . 

 

Alpha pride rose in his chest when he considered that this man probably needed a pack if he woke up, especially if he realized his human mate was screwing someone else. This was why he’d never taken a human mate himself, they usually didn’t feel the same or for as long. He wondered if Grimes even knew that much about his own kind.

 

Since the kid was half wolf, it was unknown whether he’d be a shifter when he grew up. 

 

Merle was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard shuffling in the hall. He looked down at Grimes again and sighed. It was his  _ brother _ who was the goddamn bleeding heart, not himself. Despite this thought, he found himself setting the duffel bag down and began taking all of the IVs and other things off of the omega. 

 

He bent down again and put the duffel bag strap over his shoulder, and then put one hand under the man’s neck and the other under his knees, picking him up and settling him against his chest. The omega was small and malnourished, maybe a good thing otherwise Merle wouldn’t have been able to carry him. 

 

Very awkwardly, Merle jostled the in-coma man around until he could use one whole arm to hold him up and lean him against his shoulder, where his nose rested on Merle’s neck. He did this so that he could use his other hand to grab his gun just in case a walker got too close. 

 

Grimes showed no signs of waking, not that Merle really expected any. He’d been in coma for so long already. Queenie hadn’t even  _ mentioned _ her man being in coma. 

  
  


 

It was a long journey to the car and it wasn’t until he had Grimes in the passenger seat that he realized that the guy may never even wake up, and that he’d taken him out of the hospital due to some weird… nostalgia. That wasn’t just it though, he supposed. It got lonely only having himself and Daryl as a pack. An omega… would be a wonderful addition to their small pack, even if said omega was neither of their mates. An omega was considered vital to a pack and often kept everyone sane. It’d only been the two alphas for a long time…

 

Merle was jumping the gun, though. He wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do to wake the guy up, if his mind was there at all. Maybe if his wife had been a wolf shifter like them, she could have been able to wake him up with the bond. 

 

He certainly wasn’t any kinda rapist, so mating the guy himself was out of the question. Besides, he’s always been more of the boob kinda guy. 

 

Still… Merle looked forward as he drove, his eyes landing on his black bracelets covering his wrist. That had been where Daryl bit him when they were young to form their pack bond. It was an old tradition that newer generations, or humans,  never really appreciated. But it was their only escape from their father back then. 

 

Thoughts racing, Merle pulled over in the middle of the large highway. It gave him enough view to see if something was coming and to escape. He grabbed Grimes’ arm and bit hard enough on the back of his wrist to break the skin just a little. It would hurt, and it would leave scars and bruises, but hopefully the ends justified the means, otherwise the guy would just waste away.

 

He pulled the black bracelets from his wrist and used them to hide Grimes’ new wound. He didn’t want the idiots back at camp thinking the guy was bit and kill him. Humans rarely, if ever, understood wolf customs. 

  
  


 

It was almost an hour later when he heard the groan. He stopped the car, probably too quickly, and looked over at ice blue eyes staring at him in shock.

 

“What… what the fuck? Merle Dixon?” The guy asked incredulously and then looked down at himself, seeing that he was wearing hospital garb. “Where did Shane go?”

 

Merle had no idea what he was talking about, but explained what he could. “You been in coma, officer friendly. World went to shit about two weeks ago. I just found you at the hospital.” Merle gestured to the guy’s wrist since he seemed to register the pain now and was clutching at it, looking at the black bracelets with puzzlement. “I marked you, as part of my pack. I was hoping the partial pack bond would wake you up.” 

 

Grimes looked like he didn’t know whether to believe him or not. “What do you mean… the world went to shit?”

 

“I  _ mean _ , people started dying. Then coming back. Eating people. There’s no government left at this point, the military has given up.” Merle explained patiently, which he knew Daryl would say was uncharacteristic of him. There was something about omegas he supposed that calmed his alpha behaviour. This was one reason why they needed him. Even Daryl had been on a fine line lately.

 

“Where are we going?” Grimes asked after Merle started the car back up, completely changing the subject. 

 

“Back to camp. My brother is there and… your wife and kid.”

 

Grimes sat up straight, looking a little more eager now. “They’re safe? Alive?”

 

“Sure, sure… but there’s somethin’ I think you should know Grimes,” Merle started, his sense of duty to a packmate kicking in, “when your human wife and son came to camp, they joined with that asshole partner of yours, Shane.”

 

“I knew he’d take care of them if something happened to me.” The omega sighed with relief, sitting back. 

 

Merle almost hated to continue, but a part of him enjoyed the drama and he couldn’t deny it. “Maybe a little  _ too _ well. The woman hasn’t mentioned you at all to anyone, and I can hear them fucking nearly every night.”

 

The blood and relief drained from Grimes’ face. “What?” He said hoarsely. “Was it like that from.. The start? How long ago did they join your pack?” 

 

“Not my pack man,” Merle hissed in disgust, “brother’s my only pack. An’ now you. They joined right after it started, only a day after Daryl an’ I found them. Been doing it since that night.” He confirmed, eyes on the road now. He didn’t need a walker getting caught under the car and forcing them to find a new one. 

 

“I knew we were having problems lately, but I’ve never smelled him on her.” Grimes said, though he seemed to be talking to himself. “You don’t need to hear my shit though. Where is this camp?” Merle guessed that he was changing the subject so that he wouldn’t have to think about it. 

 

“Up in the mountains by a quarry, good huntin’ grounds, and we haven’t had a single walker there yet.” Merle answered gruffly, “Daryl might be hunting when we get back. Likes to do that alone a lot lately.”

 

“Bet it’s because of the stress of this place,” Grimes shrugged. “Don’t blame him.” 

 

Merle nodded, “it ain’t easy being in a pack of only two alphas. A pack is suppose to have balance, but you an’ I both know that our kind is rare these days. Then the new ones are too… humanized, and seem to think that they’re looked down on. Don’t know where they got that bullshit.” 

 

“My mom was the wolf, she took off. My dad did his best to educate me with the information he had.” The omega admitted, “he tried to find me a teacher of some sorts but all of our family thwarted him. After I left home, it was Lori that was convincing me that it didn’t matter to have a pack. I learned all I could from books, which is far different than experiencing it I’m sure, but I know what to expect.”

 

“Ya know what we have ta’ do when we get to the quarry then, Grimes?” Merle asked, making sure. “I mean… if you wanted ta. We can’t force ya.”

 

“Yeah, no, I.. I’ve always wanted a pack and you know you can call me Rick, right?” He asked with amusement. 

 

“Well,  _ Rick _ .” Merle grumped unhappily, muttering about humans angrily, “you’ve got a lot to learn. Omegas are a vital part of a pack. They keep the alphas and betas  _ sane _ .”

 

“I find it hard to believe that you or even your brother who I have never met before, would want me cuddling you in public.” Rick told him, remembering that part the most. 

 

Merle shook his head immediately, “no, see, this is what I mean. That’s the human-raised part of you thinking. Wolves don’ give a fuck about public  _ anything _ , not even fucking. That’s just a silly human rule they try to put us in. Daryl and I couldn’t give a shit what humans would think. I can guarantee though that this  _ group _ will be a pain about it. First day when Daryl and I were “too close” everyone was thinkin’ we’re banging despite being alpha brothers. You think you can handle that?” He asked challengingly. 

 

Rick curled his lip. “If what you say about Shane and Lori is true, then I suppose I could also “couldn’t give a shit” about what they’ll think. I’ve never been one to not do something because I was afraid of what others thought.”

 

“Good.” Merle sniffed. “As for when we get back, Daryl’s gonna hafta bite ya so that you’ll be officially part of the pack. S’why there’s usually a prime alpha and prime beta in a pack, it takes two pack bites for the bond to take hold completely. Mine worked enough ta wake ya up at least.”

 

 

 

They got there far sooner than Rick would have liked. On one hand, he wanted to see Carl. On the other… he didn’t want to see Lori or Shane if what Merle said was true.

 

Rick rubbed at the bracelets on his wrist when he exited the car, following behind Merle at a slow pace. The alpha had his duffel filled with army guns and medical supplies on his shoulder. 

 

“Whatcha got for us Dixon?” Rick heard but did not see Shane, as he was hiding behind said Dixon. 

 

“Some guns, medical stuff. Also picked up a stray.” The man said with a little amusement and twisted to look at Rick behind him. He grabbed Rick firmly (but not painfully) by the nape of his neck and pushed him into view.

 

Shane gaped. “Ri-Rick! You’re alive!” 

 

“Thanks to Merle.” Rick rumbled, eying Shane with that feral look he knew his friend did not like. Shane had always said it made him uncomfortable, so Rick had stamped that down for his friend’s sake, but now… “So, I heard you were getting cozy with my wife while I was gone?” Rick asked in a deadly calm tone, his eyebrows raised. 

 

Shane instantly balked and open his mouth to probably deny it when a blur nearly knocked the human over and attached itself to Rick’s legs. “Dad! Dad!” Carl sobbed, holding tight onto his father’s clothes.

 

Rick gave Shane one last, long look, and bent over to pull Carl into his arms. It wasn’t something most people could do anymore because his son was getting so big, but to Rick it was like picking up a half-filled bag of potatoes. He huddled his pup close to his chest, letting Carl sniff at his scent glands instinctively. 

 

Rick scented him as well, letting Carl’s gentle smell calm all of his nerves. Merle shifted from behind him and patted Rick gently on the head, which Rick was pretty sure was just a little pack thing. 

 

He wasn’t fully into the pack bond yet, but even that touch felt natural to him like breathing. He’d heard that a pack was touchy-feely and close in general and that the omega was a magnet for such attention. The one who told him about it theorized that it was because pack were  _ expected _ to want to be close to an omega, so they took advantage of that expectation so that they wouldn’t be judged for wanting to be so “touchy-feely”.

 

Once Carl had settled down, Rick brought his attention back to Shane. “So, where is Lori?”

 

Shane licked his lips nervously like he always did. “She’s uhh… she’s on a run with Andrea and Jacqui. They probably won’t be back till tomorrow.” 

 

“My brother go hunting?” Merle inquired, finally handing the duffel over to the human. Shane took it shakily. 

 

“Yeah man, left right after you did.” Shane answered, trying to be nonchalant. “Listen Rick, we thought you were dead and-” 

 

“How long did you think I was dead for before you started fucking?” Rick hissed, forgetting that his pup was in his arms.

 

“I didn’ smell Shane on mom before we got here.” Carl mumbled into his father’s neck. 

 

Shane looked shocked, like he didn’t know that Carl could smell such a thing. He should have done his research. 

 

“Well, how long?” Rick prompted again, his rage softened by having Carl near. 

 

“It was right after I tried to get you out of the hospital.” Shane admitted, “I went to get you but the military was firing the place up and there was bombs going off. All your machines went off and you still didn’t wake up. I couldn’t take you with me, or I’da got shot. I also thought you’d need those machines to live. I listened for a heartbeat and I didn’t hear one.” 

 

Rick sighed in aggravation. “I’m going to talk to Lori when she gets back. For now, you better stay away from me and my pup.” He huffed one last time and turned to Merle with an expression that said ‘let’s get the hell out of here’

 

“If Daryl left right after I did, he should be back soon.” Merle told him, curling a lip at Shane. 

 

“Wait, do you two know each other? Like, from before?” Shane squinted, “you’re too familiar with each other.” 

 

“Met him on the job.” Rick said shortly. “Rest is none of your business.” 

 

The alpha led the way across camp as they ignored stares from the other humans gathered. 

 

“They don’t know you guys are wolves?” Rick guessed when they were out of earshot. Carl had climbed down on the trek through and went to play with a girl that was being watched over by a short haired woman. 

 

“Nah, didn’t wanna deal with shit if one of ‘em had a problem.” 

 

“They’ll find out soon when the bonds are all made, if what I heard about a pack after an omega joins for the first time is true.” Rick pointed out. Supposedly when an omega joined a pack, especially one that didn’t have an omega before, “desperate for attention” was an understatement. 

 

Merle shrugged, “wouldn’t know it. Never had an omega join, or even seen one before. Suppose we’ll see how it goes when Darylena gets here.” 

 

Rick hoped that this Daryl would be as accepting as Merle was. He didn’t know what he’d do otherwise. Being with someone of his species already gave him more confidence among others, when he’d been fine with letting Lori or Shane boss him around beforehand.  

  
  


 

Merle was filling him in on everyone in the group for about the next two hours, though he used far more vulgar words then Rick was happy with. He got the gist, though. He would be keeping an eye on Ed in particular. 

 

Lori was apparently dubbed “Queenie” and ordered everyone around while doing absolutely nothing herself. Shane was easily manipulated to doing what she wanted, and Carl was often foisted onto Carol, where he clung to Sophia like a lifeline. Some others were new so Merle barely knew them, and the sisters Andrea and Amy were “as clingy to each other as two boobs can be”. 

 

It was during his explanation of how the brothers joined the group when someone outside screamed. 

 

“WOLF!”

 

Rick and Merle exchanged a look as they shot to their feet and bolted out of the Dixon’s tent. 

 

Sure enough, a dark brown wolf was coming into view, it’s nose on the ground and eyes forward. It was obviously tracking something.. 

 

“Daryl?” Merle barked, startling the others. They began to calm down when the wolf nodded, but his eyes were stationary on Rick now. Had he been the one Daryl was tracking? Why? 

 

“The hell are ya doing in this form? They didn’t know we was wolves.” Merle pointed out but seemed to be ignored. Daryl trotted over to them, sticking his cold nose immediately on Rick’s bare wrist that had Merle’s light bite. He felt the wolf growl a little, like a rumbling purr. 

 

Daryl moved back a little before he took on his human body, his blue eyes pale and narrow on the two of them. “I was on my way back from the hunt and I… smelled something. Made me drop my shit and change right away. I couldn’t help it. It was like a burning under my skin the longer I tried to hold off.” He gruffly explained. “The scent trail brought me back to camp, and to… this omega.” The breeze even now seemed to pull Rick’s scent from him and go into Daryl’s face. Rick saw the alpha’s nose flare at the scent.

 

Daryl’s wolf form had been beautiful of course, but there was a different kind of beauty that he had in this form. He was broad-shouldered, his face just the right amount of scruffy, and his hair sandy and a little short. He was also very dirty and covered in blood, which definitely called to those inner wolf instincts. His eyes glittered like chips of ice. 

 

Merle turned from his brother and seemed to look consideringly at Rick. “Ya think he’s yer true mate, then?” Merle’s words shocked Rick out of his current train of thought.

 

The idea wasn’t… repulsive. His first instinct was to worry about Lori, but… no, she had no say now. “Only one way to find out,” Rick said more boldly than he felt. He was trembling inside, his heart pounding. 

 

Closing the distance, Daryl eyed him as he tilted his head back to give Rick good access to his natural smell. The act ignited Rick’s insides further. He leaned into the alpha’s space and inhaled the scent. 

 

Immediately, Rick knew what Daryl had meant by a fire under his skin. It wasn’t unlike the beginning of a heat, but still not the same. This feeling made him want to assume the most submissive position he could think up and beg for a bite, whereas a heat mostly made him want to rip off anyone’s limbs. It wasn’t forcing him to shift, likely because he didn’t have to track anyone. Daryl was right in front of him.

 

Dizziness hit him like a train and he collapsed like a wet noodle with the way he crumpled. Daryl didn’t react fast enough to catch him, or maybe it was just the awkwardness Rick could see settling into Daryl’s eyes and bones. He ended up sitting on his knees, staring up at the alpha’s face. This man was definitely his true mate. He didn’t know what else it could  _ possibly _ be. 

 

Shane, apparently, decided that he’d left it alone long enough. Nearly most of the camp was gathered. They all looked confused or indifferent.

 

“Why didn’t you tell us you were  _ wolves _ ?” Shane demanded, eyes flicking between the three of them. 

 

“Was none of yer business, that’s why.” Daryl grumbled. “We’d prefer not to deal with people’s shit.” 

 

Shane was unsatisfied. “And you,” he started on Rick, “you’re supposed to keep  _ your _ thing a… secret. What I really want to know is how do you  _ know them _ ?”

 

Rick bared his teeth at Shane with a snarl as he stood up on his wobbly feet. “For one, dip shit, I can’t keep it a secret from those who are the same. We feel it, smell it. Not something we can help unless we have blockers and no one’s likely to have those right now are they? As for knowing them, I never met Daryl before this minute, and I met Merle on the job. Rest is none of your  _ fucking buisness, got it? _ ” 

 

“The job?” Daryl inquired with a low tone. 

 

“Omega’s a cop.” Merle told him nonchalantly. “Raided one of my drug parties back in the day.”

 

“Good thing you’re done with that shit huh?” Daryl retorted. He looked back at Rick with a indecipherable look. “Thanks for knocking his ass down a peg, I guess.”

 

Were they going to talk about this? Rick’s body practically vibrated with his energy. Here they were, in this now  _ fucked _ world, and he found his true mate. But were they going to  _ talk _ about it? From what he knew, an omega would typically go into heat sometime in the next few hours, triggering the mate’s rut. If they did a mating bite before then, it would come even sooner. The heat would go for three days full force unless he caught before then, and if he did, he’d just become a lethargic cuddle monster. Or so he’d read. “No.. no problem.”

 

“You seriously getting cozy with a druggie, brother?” Shane asked incredulously. 

 

“What did I say, Shane? None of your  _ fucking buisness _ .”

 

“Well, let’s get this shit on the road!” Merle boasted, grabbing Rick again by the nape of the neck, strong enough to guide him but softly enough so that it didn’t hurt him. When Rick turned, he thought he heard Daryl rumble behind him, but he couldn’t be sure.  

  
  


 

Merle took them over to a secluded part of the camp for pack privacy. “Daryl, you gotta bite him so that the pack bond is complete.” He said, gesturing to his bite mark on Rick’s wrist. 

 

“Merle’s not forcing you inta this right?” Daryl made sure, his eyes consideringly on Rick’s other wrist which was bare. 

 

“No, I want to be in this pack. I’ve never been parta one before. Hell, never even knew any of my own species for more than a minute.” Rick admitted. If Daryl bit him on the wrist.... Did that mean he wasn’t going to mate him…? A mate’s bite usually went on the neck or shoulders, he knew. By biting him on the wrist, Daryl would basically be saying they weren’t going to be mates. Could Rick handle that…? 

  
  
  


He shouldn’t have been surprised that the younger Dixon really did bite him on the wrist. His wife of fifteen years didn’t think he was worth much either, so why would his true mate be any different?

 

He fought off the hurt disappointment and avoided the alpha’s eyes as he felt the bonds begin to form. Beyond the already-there urges of wanting to be close to his true mate, now he itched to be close to Merle too, though in a different way. 

 

They were in the middle of the group when the bonds finally settled enough to give him these urges. Merle was to his right with Daryl on Merle’s other side.

 

The humans around eyed him warily, but Rick was buzzing under his skin. He needed to be close to one or both of them, and he knew it was likely that they felt the same.

 

Rick ignored the shock when he practically crawled into Merle’s lap and automatically began purring. The purrs rumbled from his chest and he felt much better, the trembling subsiding and warmth infusing his bones instead. Merle wrapped his long arms around him and helped him settle against his lap and chest. Rick bent his head backwards over one of Merle’s arms so that he could look at Daryl upside down.

 

The alpha was looking at him with fond amusement in his blue eyes, which only increased when Rick  _ chirped _ at him. His hand came up and pet Rick on his curls, trailing down to his neck and scratching just slightly at the scent gland which made Rick’s purr become louder. 

 

“Never seen you do that before,” Shane pointed out warily. About half the group seemed on Shane’s side of things with awkward looks and scooting away from the three. The other half seemed to expect this behaviour, meaning they actually knew something about shifters. 

 

“Never had a pack before.” Rick rumbled through his purrs, curling his toes in his boots and stretching his neck as far as it could go as both Merle and Daryl scratched him under the chin like a cat. “S’normal, pack bonding. You wouldn’t understand.” He informed him nonchalantly, like he wasn’t being pet and stroked by two alpha men in front of his ex(?) Best friend. 

 

“You gonna eat?” Shane asked, changing the subject. “We gotta eat whatever we can get.” He said, noticing that neither of them had grabbed any food yet despite the fact that Daryl was the one who caught dinner. Shane just seemed to want to change the subject and/or get Rick to stop all together.

 

Merle stood, making Rick squeak as he literally plopped the omega in Daryl’s lap. Daryl took up Merle’s previous position of his arms holding him tight to his chest so that Rick didn’t fall off. Rick eagerly adjusted to where only one of Daryl’s arms were necessary to hold him, so that the Dixon’s other hand could pet him again. 

 

Rick purred so hard he felt himself practically rattle. Any noises were cut off when Merle returned and oh so rudely stuffed Rick’s mouth with a piece of cooked venison. Rick gave him a mock offended look and scarfed down the piece, his purr returning immediately.  

 

The omega rested his feet in Merle’s lap and grabbed the extra plate from the older alpha’s hands. It was stacked with both Rick and Daryl’s portions, as Daryl’s hands were already busy holding Rick up.

 

Rick went between feeding himself and feeding Daryl until the plate was gone. Once he was finished, he was plucked from the alpha’s lap and back into Merle’s. 

 

Merle stuck his nose in Rick’s hair and let loose a huge sigh. He was already a million times more relaxed than he was a mere half hour ago. It was that good effect of having an omega in the pack finally. He didn’t have to care about the judgement of others either when it was  _ expected _ of him to want contact with the omega.

 

Nearly everyone had finished eating and left without Rick noticing, until Shane caught his attention with more words. “Rick, Lori won’t be back until tomorrow. For now, her tent will be empty, you can sleep in there until we find you one. The Dixon’s tent isn’t big enough, and Carl usually sleeps with Morales and his family for protection. You know, protection in numbers and all.” Shane explained, his eyes sliding away from the “cuddle” scene the three made. 

 

Rick scrunched his nose at the thought of how much he’d be scenting Lori tonight, but he knew he had no choice, especially because the two alphas smelled so guilty. They hadn’t thought of where Rick was going to sleep, and normally they could just pile into a small tent together like a puppy pile, but it would be too dangerous if a threat came into camp. They’d be too entangled and would probably sleep too deeply all together like that. 

 

Rick nodded in agreement reluctantly. Shane pointed to where Lori’s tent was and took off himself, leaving the three alone with Glenn. It was obvious he wanted to say something, so Rick tilted his head at him and waited. 

 

“My… uh, my dad was a shifter. Like you guys. I didn’t inherit it obviously… but I wanted to let you know that you have support here.” Glenn said, his eyes following Shane’s back as the other human vanished from sight. “You’re going to have your hands full tomorrow when Lori gets back. She likes to be Queen Bee, but don’t tell her I said that.” Glenn finished awkwardly and left without waiting for an answer.

  
  
  


Another hour later, and the fire was finally gone. Merle and Daryl reluctantly let Rick leave them to go inside Lori’s tent. As he’d thought, it smelled strongly of her. 

 

At least the bed was soft, though. He had to admit, Lori had a penchant for making any surface soft. 

 

The heat began to rise under his skin, something he’d forgotten about. He was too tired to think about it though, and drifted off while the heat was a pleasant tone. If he were alert, he’d be thinking too much to sleep, about the fact that Daryl hadn’t given him a mating bite, and that the man didn’t seem to want to be anything other than a packmate. 

  
  


The zipper’s sound as it opened woke Rick up about six hours later. It was completely pitch black inside the tent and he was about to panic when he heard the intruder shush him. 

 

“Shhh, s’just me sweetheart.” Rick calmed immediately at Daryl’s voice, and heard more than saw the alpha close the tent door behind him. 

 

The omega purred as quietly as possible when he felt Daryl squeeze onto the cot behind him, molding Rick’s back to his front. He’d already kicked off the blankets ages ago as the heat under his skin cranked up a few notches. 

 

He turned with a gasp when he felt the alpha lick over his scent glands on his neck, just below his jaw. Daryl was illuminated slightly by the light of the moon filtering through the tent. His red eyes stood out completely, brighter than anything else in sight. It was breathtaking to see. 

 

They’d only just met. Surely this whole thing, this thing that Rick felt building right now, was a bad idea. But at the same time… it felt like he’d been waiting his whole life for this moment. Daryl  _ wanted _ him, he truly did. 

 

Uninformed people would tell you that an alpha in rut or an omega in heat would be the equivalent of taking advantage of a horny drunk. But that simply wasn’t true. Their instincts were heightened during this time, making them more likely to maim rather than to mate. 

 

It was only when they met someone  _ truly _ compatible and felt positive feelings for that they would mate. Otherwise, an alpha in rut, or omega in heat, were truly dangerous creatures to not be contended with. The only safe ones were their pack. 

 

During a heat the feral qualities would only fade once the omega caught. After that, he’d just be a useless cuddle machine until his heat subsided. A heat could take anywhere from a day to around four days to finish. 

 

So the fact that Daryl was here now… Rick didn’t have to question whether or not Daryl really wanted to be there or would want to be even when it was over. 

 

Rick lifted his chin, offering his neck to the alpha with a low purr which was echoed by Daryl’s nearly silent growl. He took what was offered with delicious little nips all up and down Rick’s neck. 

 

“Don’t have much time.” Rick pointed out with disappointment. “Lori could be back soon, an’ who knows how early the others get up..”

 

Daryl hmmed against him thoughtfully. “Dale gets up pretty early, Merle too… Suns bound to be coming up soon.” 

 

Rick leaned back so that he could nuzzle the underside of the alpha’s jaw, letting loose some little purrs again. “Better get on with it then, hm?” He reached his hand down between them to palm at the noticeable bulge between the archer’s legs. His hand was met with a automatic hip thrust and a low groan.

 

“You sure, sweetheart?” He replied, barely being able to restraining himself at this point. “Might  get caught with our pants down. Can’t say how long the knot will last.”

 

“Don’t really care about that right now.” Rick said with honesty.  “Just want you.” He supposed he should care but… he found he really didn’t.

 

Shirts still in place, they both wiggled their pants down far enough to expose themselves without moving positions, Daryl’s front to Rick’s back. Rick lifted a leg, inviting his alpha to touch. 

 

Daryl growled, his fingers searching for Rick’s already wet entrance. He tested one finger, making Rick clench and groan around it. It had been so long since he even touched himself there. Lori had never liked it if he paid himself any attention back there when they were together unless he was alone. The sensation was foreign but welcome.

 

One finger quickly became two, then three, until Rick was groaning around the fourth. He pleaded for Daryl, his purrs loud. He felt Daryl’s hand pulled away and he couldn’t stop himself from whining in protest until he felt Daryl shifting around to press something much bigger than a finger against him. 

 

Rick tried to relax as Daryl entered him slowly. It burned and he hissed with it, wiggling slightly. 

 

Daryl probably would have stopped then if he hadn’t been so close to his rut, but instead he snarled, his canines long and sharp, pressed against the nape of Rick’s neck. The omega stilled instinctively, moaning quietly at the feeling of Daryl’s sharp teeth against his skin.

 

The alpha pushed him until Rick was flat on his front. Daryl covered his back and pressed in as deeply as possible, growling the whole while. It rumbled Rick’s bones and made him feel not only turned on as hell, but also safe and protected. 

 

Daryl used both hands to lift Rick’s hips and helped him get his knees under him while keeping his chest and arms flat to the cot. 

 

In no time at all, Daryl’s cock was pulling out only to slam back in, the force making the air forcefully push itself from Rick’s lungs. His toes curled and he bit the pillow so that he wouldn’t wake the whole camp, feeling far more than capable of it. 

 

Daryl’s hand rested now on his stomach, his other lifting one of Rick’s thighs slightly to get at a different angle. Rick almost bit his tongue off to stifle a scream when the alpha hit his prostate with his cock for the first time. The archer took that as his moment to sink his teeth into Rick’s neck, just below his scent glands. He licked over the wound to help it heal and scar over into a proper mating bite. 

 

Their rutting became more and more like animals as the  _ hours _ went on, stopping only when they were knotted, and then starting again as soon as they could move around properly. Rick’s heat was in full swing by morning, as well as Daryl’s rut. Their eyes flashed red and gold to reflect it too.

  
  


 

Either she hadn’t been warned or she just didn’t care, but Lori made a big mistake when she returned to camp that morning. She entered the temporary “nest” of a newly mated and heat addled omega. 

 

“Rick!-” She startled, obviously not expecting to walk in on Rick with a man. So no one had warned her, and it was even possible that no one else knew in the first place. Merle might not even be awake to see that his brother was gone. 

 

The most recent knot had just come loose minutes before, freeing Rick to snarl at his now ex-wife. Perhaps if he hadn’t been in heat, he would have reacted very differently. But he was, so his instincts were setting him immediately on the aggressive. Later Lori would call him a wild animal for his reaction.

 

Daryl wasn’t fast enough to stop Rick from lunging from the cot, the omega’s body slipping into it’s wolf form with a flash of brown fur, his jaws and claws extended for the intruder. At that moment it didn’t really matter that it was  _ Lori _ that walked in. It only mattered that this was an outsider, someone not from his pack. His instinct told him  _ kill kill kill _ .  

 

Lori shrieked and flailed, falling backwards out of the tent.

 

Rick followed, but he wasn’t quick enough to escape the tent’s flap completely before his mate pinned him to the ground, half in and half out of the tent. His body came back to it’s human form, flat on his belly and snarling. His sharp canines showed, but Daryl forced him to submit with a louder growl and a nip to his shoulder.

 

The omega instinctively whined and tilted his head, showing his neck to his alpha. Daryl purred his praise and worked on distracting his mate from the current problem by working himself back into his mate for maybe the fifth or sixth time.

 

The alpha’s teeth gripped the back of Rick’s neck hard, but not hard enough to bleed. The omega obviously loved it if his louder moans and keens were anything to go by.

 

The tent’s flap covered enough so that anyone outside couldn’t see their lower halves, but it was easy to tell what was going on, leaving Lori shocked and wide-eyed.

 

Shane had been alerted to Lori’s shriek and came around the tents, trying to look away from the scene but pulling Lori away at the same time. 

 

Rick mewled loudly at a particularly hard shove of his new mate’s cock, completely distracted from the outsiders that were now sneaking glances. His mouth hung open and he panted hoarsely, his body rocking with Daryl’s thrusts into his ass.

 

The alpha continued, growling and groaning alternatively, even when his brother showed up. Merle had been woken up by the commotion and shooed everyone off with a scowl. “Off you go, then, this ain’t no peep show. Rick’s in heat and he’ll rip you apart if he notices you sittin’ around.” He said, horrifying most of them. They scattered pretty quickly with only a few looks back at the loudly mating pair half in the open.

 

“Coulda told me you’d be fuckin’ him, Daryl.” Merle complained, not getting an answer out of his otherwise busy little brother. “Aight I gotta get your crazy asses back inside before you knot and then kill someone.” At this point Merle was just talking to himself, the newly mated couple not paying attention the slightest bit.

 

Since he was pack, Merle had no fear that they would attack him for getting close. Even then, Daryl snarled at him when he began to push them inside. “Now now, just get your horny ass in there and do it where you’re not gonna be gawked at by humans waiting to be slaughtered by your mate here.” 

 

Daryl seemed to understand at least a little bit, for he grabbed his mate around the waist and hauled him back inside the tent completely, Merle zipping it shut from outside. He would have to stand guard for a while. Even if Rick caught from the first knot, it could take many hours to  _ actually _ catch, and after then the omega would be much more himself. 

 

Now instead of  _ kill kill kill _ , Rick’s mind chanted  _ breed breed breed _ , which he committed himself to with just as much enthusiasm. The two had enough presence of mind to get back on the cot inside of rutting on the ground for much longer, but this time Rick bounced on Daryl’s cock from above, wiggling his hips where and when he could. Daryl’s hooded red eyes peered up at him, the most sexy thing he’d seen in his whole life.

 

Eventually Daryl got tired of not being in control of the pace and sat up quickly, practically slamming Rick down on the cot on his back and going at it with renewed vigor, his hips snapping hard into Rick.

 

Rick spread his thighs as far as he could, trying to give the alpha more room to get in deeper, his legs in the air and unashamed. Daryl’s hands moved from his hips to the insides of his knees, spreading his legs even farther and pushing them up. The omega panted and moaned, still as into it as he was the first time they’d done this hours ago. 

 

Sensing his mate was close, Rick tilted his head back and showed Daryl his neck, inviting him to bite his mark again. If Rick had the capability to form words at that moment, he would be saying  _ gimme your pups alpha, c’mon _ , but as it was, his scent would have to do that for him.

 

Nails raked down Daryl’s back, seeming to encourage the alpha to go harder. 

 

Daryl howled when he started to come, his knot locking inside and preventing any of his thick seed from escaping. Rick’s release was quieter but no less intense, leaving his legs trembling in the air until Daryl lowered them slowly. 

 

The desperation faded a little like it usually did for a little while after their release, leaving them a little sheepish about their noise and the show they’d put on. 

 

“There’s no way I’m not going to be pupped after this.” Rick remarked tiredly, “you barely know me… are you okay with… this?” He mumbled, shyness breaking through.

 

“Wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t already thought of that, sweetheart.” Daryl replied, the two lying in their original position with Rick’s back to Daryl’s front. The alpha licked soothingly at his mate’s neck, their purrs entwining. “It might not be the best time for a pup, but when was it ever?”

 

It was a little different now, but Rick didn’t particularly want to talk about it at that moment. He tested the knot with a little squeeze, forcing the alpha to huff and puff a little. He felt impossibly full of the man’s cock and come, and he couldn’t be happier, even if they lived in such a shitty world now. 

 

Hell, he felt happier than he had in the whole past year. 

 

“Gonna have to apologize to Lori.” Rick grumbled, “almost killed her. Wanted to.” 

 

“Dumb bitch had it comin’.” Daryl remarked, resting his forehead against the omega’s neck.

 

“Maybe,” Rick conceded. 

 

Shorter than the times before, the knot was already almost down all the way. Each time, the time it took to go down went down by a couple of minutes. Merle would be bringing them some water and food soon, something packmates often did for each other in times like this. By then they would probably be knotted again. 

 

Rick felt guilty but couldn’t help but think that the apocalypse had finally led him to his true self. He had a pack for the first time ever, and a mate… But it would be wrong to say that they  _ loved _ each other already. 

 

There was no such thing as love at first sight, but Rick recognized that this felt a lot like the  _ start _ of it. He knew it with ever fiber of his being that loving Daryl Dixon was going to come easily to him, filling him with a happiness he’d never felt before other than when his son was born.


End file.
